Food was sooo good. We had to wait a bit but it is so worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Shivani Vaza
Very flavorful food. My first time eating Ethiopian food and I’ll definitely come back. Prices are reasonable too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegetarian Combination
Melinda Wieder
Freaking delicious!! It was so good. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jessica Hoofnagle
If I could give this restaurant 6 stars, I would! The food is ridiculously good, and the service was some of the best I’ve had; so warm and welcoming! Highly recommended :)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ruth Apahidean
Food was excellent. We had lamb and it was perfect!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cara
Incredible food, some of the best Ethiopian dishes we’ve ever had. Very cozy space and great service. Parking is a bit tricky, but we found street parking. Definitely check them out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Grace Huang
we got meat combo, tilapia
between those and the veggie sides that come with, all hits.
esp recommend for the tilapia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Priyanka Lele
Cafe Selam, hidden tiny restaurant tucked along the street. Yummy food, great service but definitely needs working on the ambience. The vegetarian combination injera with lentils, cabbage, spinach, spices was an absolute delicacy! (Shiro wat, mesir wat, alicha miser, salad and spinach) The Lamb (Special Tibbs) served with salad and chilli paste wasn't so special. The stir fry was a bit dry. The injera was soft, fluffy, spongy and went so well with the entire flare!
The interiors are a bit down unless you are seated out, where you can find grape vines! And breezy Seattle weather adds to the ambience. There's one restroom for the customers and a separate one for staff (both not so great in condition!) Portion size is massive - two dishes easily gobbled by 4. Street parking available, you'll have to hunt for a spot. Can be found though within the neighborhood.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shiro Wat, Injera, Vegetarian Combination, Lamb TIBS, Mesir Wat
Dylan Vogel (dyvog)
A classic Ethiopian place with a nicely tucked outdoor seating area just on Cherry, punching above its weight for atmosphere I’d say. Wish I had ordered a coffee too but the mango juice was incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
mewael gebre
Very disappointing service. Left my phone on the table and one of the server( daughter of the owner) picked it while people next to my table were watching her. When I came back a few minutes later to my table I could not find my phone and confronted them but they denied it and claim that the phone she picked up was her own. I asked to check the security camera that was facing right to my table they claim that they didn’t work.
I am very disgusted by this attitude and lack of integrity for their customers. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL!
I love the food here. I usually get the Vegetarian Combo for takeout. Sometimes there's spinach, and sometimes there's not, which makes me sad. The portions seem to be shrinking over the years, but it's still delicious.
They have good breakfast on the weekends, too.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
M cox
Great authentic Ethiopian food, must try. This little cafe looks very rough but be daring and don't judge this book by the cover. Our plates were cleaned, everything was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Becca Seuferling
VERY DISAPPOINTED AND UPSET!
This has been one of my favorite Ethiopian restaurants for a long time until today. We ordered a meat combo and a veggie combo and the waitress said she would combine them. On the menu, the meat combo is listed as “a delicious and generous combination of our finest meat dishes with veggie sides” we were brought a platter with two small meat dishes and 5 small servings of veggie sides. Thinking maybe she only brought the meat platter I went inside and she attempted to explain it was both combined, I tried explain that there was very little veggies and would like more it took a while but she seemed to get what I was saying and she brought a small amount of extra veggies and injera. When paying we were charged for two veggie combos and a meat combo along with a side of injera never ordered. Incredibly upset and disappointed I paid for the meal and left, but will not be coming back here again. I am sad that this business has changed and turned to just another sad Seattle rip off. When I ordered here in the past a meat platter would always have at least 3 meat dishes and one of them would be doro wat or green chicken, the platter would be filled with so many veggies you cant see the injera.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Char Lopez
Café Selam is hands down my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle—and I’ve tried at least 20! What keeps me coming back after 10 years is the authenticity. They don’t “Americanize” the food or dull down the flavors. Every dish is bold, rich, and made with care—just the way it should be.
The injera is always fresh, the spices are perfectly layered, and the portions are generous. I order the Meat Combo and it always hits the spot.
And then there’s Amy. Her charm is a huge part of what makes this place special. She makes you feel like family every time you walk in and she even gives me bones for my dogs.
If you're looking for real Ethiopian food that stays true to its roots, Café Selam is it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Injera
Mia Marquez
This place is incredible! We are from out of town and weren’t aware the meat combo plate wasn’t available until noon. They made it for us anyway, which was so nice of them. The food was perfect. If we lived in Seattle we would eat here all the time.
Food was sooo good. We had to wait a bit but it is so worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Very flavorful food. My first time eating Ethiopian food and I’ll definitely come back. Prices are reasonable too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegetarian Combination
Freaking delicious!! It was so good. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
If I could give this restaurant 6 stars, I would! The food is ridiculously good, and the service was some of the best I’ve had; so warm and welcoming! Highly recommended :)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was excellent. We had lamb and it was perfect!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Incredible food, some of the best Ethiopian dishes we’ve ever had. Very cozy space and great service. Parking is a bit tricky, but we found street parking. Definitely check them out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
we got meat combo, tilapia
between those and the veggie sides that come with, all hits.
esp recommend for the tilapia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cafe Selam, hidden tiny restaurant tucked along the street. Yummy food, great service but definitely needs working on the ambience.
The vegetarian combination injera with lentils, cabbage, spinach, spices was an absolute delicacy! (Shiro wat, mesir wat, alicha miser, salad and spinach)
The Lamb (Special Tibbs) served with salad and chilli paste wasn't so special. The stir fry was a bit dry.
The injera was soft, fluffy, spongy and went so well with the entire flare!
The interiors are a bit down unless you are seated out, where you can find grape vines! And breezy Seattle weather adds to the ambience. There's one restroom for the customers and a separate one for staff (both not so great in condition!) Portion size is massive - two dishes easily gobbled by 4.
Street parking available, you'll have to hunt for a spot. Can be found though within the neighborhood.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shiro Wat, Injera, Vegetarian Combination, Lamb TIBS, Mesir Wat
A classic Ethiopian place with a nicely tucked outdoor seating area just on Cherry, punching above its weight for atmosphere I’d say. Wish I had ordered a coffee too but the mango juice was incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Very disappointing service. Left my phone on the table and one of the server( daughter of the owner) picked it while people next to my table were watching her. When I came back a few minutes later to my table I could not find my phone and confronted them but they denied it and claim that the phone she picked up was her own. I asked to check the security camera that was facing right to my table they claim that they didn’t work.
I am very disgusted by this attitude and lack of integrity for their customers. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
I love the food here. I usually get the Vegetarian Combo for takeout. Sometimes there's spinach, and sometimes there's not, which makes me sad. The portions seem to be shrinking over the years, but it's still delicious.
They have good breakfast on the weekends, too.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Great authentic Ethiopian food, must try.
This little cafe looks very rough but be daring and don't judge this book by the cover. Our plates were cleaned, everything was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
VERY DISAPPOINTED AND UPSET!
This has been one of my favorite Ethiopian restaurants for a long time until today. We ordered a meat combo and a veggie combo and the waitress said she would combine them. On the menu, the meat combo is listed as “a delicious and generous combination of our finest meat dishes with veggie sides” we were brought a platter with two small meat dishes and 5 small servings of veggie sides. Thinking maybe she only brought the meat platter I went inside and she attempted to explain it was both combined, I tried explain that there was very little veggies and would like more it took a while but she seemed to get what I was saying and she brought a small amount of extra veggies and injera. When paying we were charged for two veggie combos and a meat combo along with a side of injera never ordered. Incredibly upset and disappointed I paid for the meal and left, but will not be coming back here again. I am sad that this business has changed and turned to just another sad Seattle rip off. When I ordered here in the past a meat platter would always have at least 3 meat dishes and one of them would be doro wat or green chicken, the platter would be filled with so many veggies you cant see the injera.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Café Selam is hands down my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle—and I’ve tried at least 20! What keeps me coming back after 10 years is the authenticity. They don’t “Americanize” the food or dull down the flavors. Every dish is bold, rich, and made with care—just the way it should be.
The injera is always fresh, the spices are perfectly layered, and the portions are generous. I order the Meat Combo and it always hits the spot.
And then there’s Amy. Her charm is a huge part of what makes this place special. She makes you feel like family every time you walk in and she even gives me bones for my dogs.
If you're looking for real Ethiopian food that stays true to its roots, Café Selam is it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Injera
This place is incredible! We are from out of town and weren’t aware the meat combo plate wasn’t available until noon. They made it for us anyway, which was so nice of them. The food was perfect. If we lived in Seattle we would eat here all the time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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